Takuma Sato progressed through the ranks quickly to compete in Formula One and joined the Verizon IndyCar Series in 2010.

Sato, the only Japanese driver competing full time, lives in Colorado during the season mainly to train. "Taku" began his career racing bicycles in his native Japan and was a high school champion. Cycling is key in his fitness regimen.

In 1996, he started karting and in 1997 won the Kanto region championship. That same year he entered Suzuka Racing School, where he won a scholarship for the All-Japan Formula 3 Championship. He chose, however, to move to Europe to pursue his ambition of reaching Formula One.

He won the British Formula 3 title in 2001 and began competing in Formula One in 2002. He scored a podium finish at the 2004 USGP at Indy and finished eighth in the championship driving for BAR Honda that year. Moving to INDYCAR in 2010, Sato won two poles and finished in the top 10 13 times in 49 starts before joining A.J. Foyt Racing for the 2013 season. He earned his first victory at Long Beach in 2013.

2014• Finished 18th in Verizon IndyCar Series standings for A.J. Foyt Racing.
• Recorded five top-10 finishes, with best of fourth at Sonoma.
• Earned pole starts at St. Petersburg and Belle Isle 2.
• Led four races for total of 66 laps.

2013
• Finished 17th in IndyCar Series standings for A.J. Foyt Racing.
• Won at Long Beach and posted other top-five finish at Sao Paulo two weeks later.
• Earned pole at Houston 1.
• Led four races for 187 total laps.

2012
• Finished 14th in IndyCar Series standings for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.
• Recorded five top-10 finishes, with best of second at Edmonton.

2011
• Finished 13th in IndyCar Series standings for KV Racing Technology.
• Recorded seven top-10 finishes, with a best of fourth at Mid-Ohio.
• Earned pole positions at Iowa and Edmonton.
• Led four races for total of 61 laps.
2010
• Finished 21st in IndyCar Series standings for KV Racing Technology.
• Recorded best finish of ninth at Edmonton.
• Had best start of third at Mid-Ohio.
ROAD TO THE VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES

2008
• Competed in four Formula One races with Super Aguri F1 Team with best finish of 13th at Catalunya (Spain) Served as test driver for Scuderia Toro Rosso in Formula One.

2007
• Finished 17th in Formula One for Super Aguri F1 with a best finish of sixth at Montreal (Canada).

2006
• Competed in Formula One for Super Aguri F1 with best finish of 10th at Interlagos (Brazil).

2005
• Competed in Formula One for Lucky Strike BAR Honda with best finish of eighth at Hungaroring (Hungary).

2004
• Finished eighth in Formula One for Lucky Strike BAR Honda with best finish of third at the United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis.

2003
• Served as Lucky Strike BAR Honda official test driver Finished sixth at Suzuka (Japan) in his only Formula One start as replacement for Jacques Villeneuve.

2002
• Finished 15th in Formula One for DHL Jordan Honda team with best finish of fifth at his home grand prix at Suzuka.

2001
• Won the British Formula 3 championship for Carlin Motorsport with 12 wins, 17 podium finishes and six pole positions in 25 races. Won the famed Macau Grand Prix, Masters of Formula 3 at Zandvoort and the International F3 race supporting the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Served as test driver for British American Racing.

2000
• Finished third in British Formula 3 for Carlin Motorsport with four wins, six podium finishes and six poles in 12 starts Also competed in French F3 winning at Spa and raced in F3 European Cup races.

1999
• Finished fourth in British Formula 3 National Class for Diamond Racing Finished second in Europa Cup Britian Finished sixth in Formula Open Europe with one win at Donington Park.

1998
• Competed in one All-Japan Formula 3 event with Dome Project Made European racing debut at Snetterton in the Formula Vauxhall Junior Championship before graduating to Formula Opel at the end of the year, both with Diamond Racing.

Early career• Began racing career on bicycles where he won several national junior championships. Bought his first go kart in 1996 and later entered Honda's Suzuka Racing School where he earned the scholarship prize, a fully paid drive in the 1998 All-Japan Formula 3 Championship. He passed on the prize in order to race in Europe.

Year

Series

Starts

Wins

Poles**

Top 5

Top 10

Laps Led

RAF

2015

Verizon IndyCar Series

1

0

0

0

0

0

1

2014

Verizon IndyCar Series

18

0

2

2

5

66

11

2013

Verizon IndyCar Series

19

1

1

2

4

187

9

2012

Verizon IndyCar Series

15

0

0

2

5

76

6

2011

Verizon IndyCar Series

17

0

2

3

7

61

15

2010

Verizon IndyCar Series

17

0

0

0

1

0

8

Total

87

1

5

9

22

390

50

Year

Series

Starts

Wins

Poles**

Top 5

Top 10

Laps Led

RAF

* Under INDYCAR sanctionRAF = Running at Finish** Includes all poles, including those awarded based on entrant points

A.J. Foyt, the first four-time winner of the Indianapolis 500, founded A.J. Foyt Enterprises, a race shop based in Waller, Texas, in 1965.

Foyt has won more Indianapolis-style championship races (67) than any driver in history. He has a record seven national Indy-style driving championship titles to his name and a total of 12 major driving championships in various categories.

Foyt has raced everything from midgets to stock cars. He won the 24 Hours of LeMans in 1967 and the Daytona 500 in 1972. He is the only driver to win those two events along with the Indianapolis 500, which he won in 1961, 1964, 1967 and 1977. He was the inaugural inductee into the Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1989.

Foyt retired from driving Indy cars in 1993 to concentrate his efforts on team ownership but returned to the driver's seat at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1994 to compete in the inaugural Brickyard 400 NASCAR race.

Foyt earned his first Indianapolis 500 victory solely as a car owner with driver Kenny Brack in 1999. Foyt's team won IndyCar Series titles in 1996 and 1998. His son, Larry, is the team director.